Rio De Janeiro: Sindhu took the court for the second game and soon opened up a 8-3 lead, much to the delight of the Indian fans. Cheers of ‘jeetega bhai jeetega ! India jeetega! ‘ reverberating in the stadium.

There was absolutely no margin for error as the duo tried to outwit each other. In the end it was Wang who failed to rein in her errors to allow Sindhu reach the break with a 11-8 advantage after sealing an aggressive parallel rally with a powerful smash. Everytime the 21-year-old Sindhu outplayed her more experienced rival, she seemed more pumped up as it was followed by a loud cheer from the Indian fans. There were occasional exchanges of looks with coach Pullella Gopichand, who was seen constantly giving his feedback from the sideline. At 18-13, Sindhu moved into a five-point cushion when Wang pushed one wide.

The Chinese showed great fighting spirit to reel off the next six points and grabbed the lead with a mid court smash. A good return of serve made it 19-19 before the Indian secured the match point with a powerful smash. Wang hit the net on the decisive point as Sindhu fell to the ground in jubilation. PTI